A Day in The Life of A Former Goddess and A Scientist
by Jonathan Sharp
Summary: A series of oneshots written for Hoperai Summer Festival 2019. The stories are separate from my ongoing story 'The Life They Deserve', although you could consider some of them to be loosely related to it.
1. Handsome Couple

**Day 2: Handsome Couple**

Sometimes, she really did hate the fact that all eyes were on her constantly. And that fact seemed to carry over even to her private life…

_Claire 'Lightning' Farron, famous fashion model, spotted with science man in mall! _

She felt like vomiting at that tabloid headline. She couldn't believe that these paparazzi had the absolute gawl to intrude on her personal life like this!

The rosette threw the tabloid magazine across the room in a fit of rage. If only she hadn't picked it up on her way home.. Damn her curiosity…

"Ow.."

She turned her head, eyes widening in surprise once she found out where that magazine had landed.

The man across the room peeled the magazine off of his face, holding it in his hands in curiosity once he spotted that ridiculous headline.

"Science man?" He immediately burst out in laughter. "Tabloids these days!"

"Ughh…," Lightning groaned in annoyance. "I wish I could just hunt down those stupid paparazzis and smash their heads in!"

"I mean.. you are sort of a local celebrity y'know.."

"Not. Helping. Hope." she hissed.

"Right.. right…," he said swallowing his words. "Sorry about that."

The rosette plopped down onto the sofa, letting her head sink into the soft cushions. She really did like being a model.. too bad it came with the star life she hated so much. Did these people not know the term 'privacy'?

The silverine sat down beside her as he curiously flipped through the pages. His eyes zig zagged across the words, scanning the contents of the pages.

"Lightning Farron was just spotted with a scientist at the mall, who happens to be - Hey! They actually acknowledged my name!"

He pointed a little too enthusiastically at a sentence on the page.. '_Hope Estheim, Director of research institute The Academy'._

He felt a little bit proud to know that these tabloid folks knew of his position. But really, who _didn't_ recognize _Director Hope Estheim, _leader and spearheader of the geniuses at the Academy? He continued to read on, his interest just slightly piqued by the mention of his name.

_Fans of the supermodel are starting to speculate whether or not Lightning Farron really is going out with the Director. But whatever the case, it seems that they seem to love the idea of the two becoming a thing! _

"Aww…" He couldn't help but smile at that. Although now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn't such a good thing that these people knew about his relationship with Lightning…

"Well.. at least they think we look good together," the silverine said with an awkward smile. He was starting to question this vain attempt at cheering his partner up...

"That doesn't matter, Hope.. I just don't want these people meddling with our lives!" Lightning said with a tone of anger to her voice. "I don't think I can even go to the grocery store without feeling as if I'm being watched by those stupid paparazzi.."

"I get what you mean, Light.." This really was starting to sound a lot worse now that she put it that way. "So what do you think we should do?"

"I-I don't know.. maybe we should spend less time together outside?" It was an extreme decision.. but what other choice would there be? (and she didn't want to go through the hassle of bringing them to court…)

"I.. I guess you're right. Who knows, maybe if we keep this up long enough, they'll forget all of this ever happened and we can go back to having a normal and peaceful life?" He could only hope those human-looking vultures would do such a thing…

"Yea.. I just hope so."

And so the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months. They'd only ever see each other at their own homes, never at any public area - lest they want the swarm of the paparazzi to engulf them. It almost felt like they were on a curfew, their romantic lives restricted to the confines of their houses..

But one day, Hope had managed to convince Lightning to break her rule. What did he propose exactly? A walk in the park at night, where he was sure no sane paparazzi would bother them. The tabloids had already lost their appetite in reporting the newest hits on their relationship, so it was a safe bet that they wouldn't show up this time.

He walked hand in hand, fingers intertwined with his partner's as they strolled by the lake under the dim moonlight.

"We haven't done this in a loong time, Light."

"Yeah.. but it feels good to finally do it, you know?," she replied as she took a glance at the silverine.

His eyes were staring up at the sky, fixated on the perfect full moon floating in the dark of the night. "It really is beautiful tonight..."

"I guess it is..."

He stopped in his tracks, earning him a confused look from the rosette. A cheeky smile formed on his lips.

"..but not as beautiful as you."

She should've expected something so corny from him of all people, but it still caught her off guard, causing her cheeks to blush a deep red.

Hope took the chance, leaning down to take her lips into his. For a few seconds, they stood there, sharing a sweet and loving kiss between each other.

But then she remembered where they were, pulling away almost immediately from the kiss.

"Don't you remember where we are?!" she scolded under a hushed tone.

"C'mon, Light! There's no way anyone's here right now."

Maybe he was right.. maybe she was just paranoid. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she'd just forget her fears about a spying paparazzi for one moment...

She sighed, sliding her arm into his as she continued her stroll with him.

"I just hope you're right.."

The next day, she made her usual walk from her apartment to the modelling studio, stopping by her favourite coffee shop along the way. She ordered the usual, but then something caught her eye.

There, on one of the customer's tables was a magazine...

_'Lightning Farron spotted kissing the Director on a midnight stroll!'_

"Goddammit!"


	2. Fireworks

**Day 3: Fireworks**

"Woah!"

A firework shot into the air, bursting and painting the night sky in a plethora of wonderful and jaw-dropping colours.

"They're really beautiful, aren't they honey?"

"Yeah! They're really pwetty!"

He chuckled at her childish mispronunciation as he ruffled her hair.

"I knew you'd love it…"

_Pew~~~ BOOM!_

This time, another firework went off into the dark of the night, bursting into an even larger and spectacular display of a rainbow of colours. It was bright enough to illuminate most of the surrounding area.

"Wow.." she awed, and he couldn't help but stare in wonder at it as well.

"That was an even bigger one, daddy!" she squealed in childlike joy.

"Hehe.. it sure was, honey."

She continued to sit in his lap, her emerald eyes glistening as she admired the bombastic display of fireworks lighting up the sky above her.

"So pwetty…"

"Hey.."

She turned around, a wide smile forming on her lips.

"Mommy!"

Her lips curved into a smile. "I see someone's missed me."

He patted the patch of grass beside him, inviting her to sit with them. But what'd caught his eye were the bottles of drinks in her hands. She handed one over to him, earning her a thankful smile from his lips.

Before he even had the mouth of the bottle anywhere near his mouth, he stopped.

"Wait, this isn't.. _alcohol_, right?"

"Pfft.. course not. It's soda," she replied with a little laugh to her voice.

"Daddy, what's _alkahawl_?"

"Umm.. I'll tell you some other day, okay sweetie?"

"Aww.."

"It's just a drink for grownups honey.. that's all," she said, hoping that it would be enough to sate the little one's curiosity.

"Ooh.. okay.."

The three of them sat there huddled up on the small hill overlooking the park, providing them a breathtaking view of the fireworks display in the sky.

"Where does Snow even get these fireworks?," he asked as he took another sip of the soda.

She shrugged, "Beats me.."

_Zzzz~_

They looked downwards towards the source of that snore, greeted by the sight of their little daughter snoozing off into dreamland in her father's lap.

He brushed his fingers through her pink locks before placing a sweet kiss on her cheek, earning him a small smile from her lips.

"Let's just hope the fireworks don't wake you up..," he chuckled to himself.

Another one flew into the air, emanating a loud boom before releasing its colours. Yet, the little girl was still fast asleep.

"I don't think that's gonna happen," she joked.

She rested her head against his shoulder. His arm slinged around her shoulders in return, bringing her closer to him.

"This really brings back memories..," he sighed as his eyes glistened with the reflections of the rainbow of colours.

"Of Bodhum?"

He sighed once more, this time an even deeper one: one of remembrance and reminiscence. "Yeah…"

"Me too..," she sighed as a small smile curved on her lips. "Who would've known things would end up like this?"

He let out a little chuckle. "I certainly didn't…"

"Me neither..," she chuckled along with her husband. "But.. this is good. _Life.._ is good."

Perhaps _good_ was understating it. Life.. life was amazing.

"Yeah..," he sighed in content, "..life is good."

A yawn escaped her lips. Her eyes became heavier as her head drooped further onto her husband's shoulder.

"Feeling sleepy, Light?"

"Mhmm…"

"Wanna go home?"

She let out another yawn. "No.. I think I'd rather stay here - if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all, Light," he said with a smile. "Sweet dreams..." he whispered as he ran his fingers through his wife's pink hair.

"You too.. honey.." she said between her yawns. Before long, she was already asleep.

He sat there with his wife resting against his shoulder and his daughter sleeping in his lap, a content sigh escaping his lips. He'd regret this when he'd wake up later - backaches and all. But for now, he'd enjoy the moment while it lasted.

He looked up at the bursts of colour in the sky, remembering the wishes he'd made during his childhood vacations in Bodhum. But now, in this new world, he had nothing else to wish for - because what he wanted was all with him, sleeping soundly in his arms.


	3. Camping

**Day 4: Camping**

"Light?"

"Grnh…"

"Light, please.."

"Go to sleep, Hope.." the rosette said grumpily, a hint of annoyance to her voice.

"C'mon Light.. please."

His continued pleas had gotten the better of her. She rolled over on her sleeping bag, facing the silverine. She sleepily opened her eyes amidst the grueling exhaustion. What on Earth did her husband want from her at this time of the night?

"What is it Hope?"

"I..I need to _go_.."

"Go? Go where?"

"You know.." His eyes gestured downwards.

"Oh.. _oh.._" She sighed internally. She totally knew what he was going to ask next.

"Sweetie please, I need you to-"

"No," she said bluntly. She buried her head back into the thin pillows of her sleeping bag.

"But _Light.._"

"I'm sure you can go yourself Hope," she replied, her voice muffled by her sleeping bag.

"I.. I can't."

An audible sigh escaped her lips. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to calm herself. "Mind telling me why, Hope honey?"

He stayed silent for a moment, his emerald eyes avoiding her gaze once she turned her head to face him.

If he wasn't going to tell her anything, then she'd just have to figure out the mystery herself. There had to be something causing him to be like this-

"Wait.." It was a hunch, but there was no other reasonable explanation than this.. "Don't tell me you're scared to go outside because of Snow's story?"

Even in the low light of the tent, she could see the mad blush forming on her husband's cheeks - which just confirmed her hunch..

"You actually_ believe_ that stuff he said?"

"Well.. I mean-"

"Hope you're a _grown man._ Fang and Noel were literally laughing throughout the entire thing.." She couldn't believe that Hope Estheim, former leader of humanity, was afraid of some campfire horror story...

"Ok, so what if there aren't any ghosts then? There's still the wildlife out there and I could sure use someone to have my back."

"Gosh, Hope.. you've fought literal gods and behemoths and you're scared of wild animals?"

"C'mon Light, please!" he pleaded. "I really need to _go_, and besides, didn't you tell me that you'd guard the rear?"

"Hope, when I said I'd guard the rear I didn't mean following you to go take a piss."

"C'mon Light.. pleaaase." He pleaded on like a little kid begging his parents for candy.

"Ugh, fine. Let's go." She had to give in, lest she wanted to hear him plead for the rest of the night - or piss his pants. Anything but that..

They made their way out of the cramped tent, greeted by the pitch black darkness of the night and the chirping of the crickets. Hope switched on the flashflight, leading the way to a tree stump that was quite a distance from the campsite.

"I'll try to be fast."

She turned away out of decency, hearing the sound of a zipper opening, and soon he was answering nature's call..

"Oh don't worry, honey. I'll be here to watch your back."

The sting of her sarcasm really did hit a little bit too close to home..

He sighed as he finally finished his biological duty. "Alright, let's get-"

_Rustle~_

His eyes widened, his heart thumping in his chest. The rustling in the bush sounded very audible even with the loud chirping of the crickets.

"Light, d-did you hear that?"

"I sure did Hope.."

The rustling only grew louder. If this was really a wild animal, then all they had to defend themselves were a flashlight and their fists - which meant they would be screwed. And as luck would have it, the flashlight began to flicker before dying out entirely. _Shit.._

"Light.. if this is a wild animal-"

"Then I sure hope you can still pull a boomerang out of your ass.."

Soon, the rustling was starting to get a lot louder and a lot nearer as well. They were too loud to be just some little creature..

Suddenly, from among the bushes, a dark figure stood up, towering over the both of them. It let out a bellowing and bone-chilling growl. It was a good thing he'd peed just now..

Without even a moment's hesitation, Lightning threw a punch straight at the dark figure, hitting it smack dab in the face, or what appeared to be its face. It was pitch black after all.

"Ow!"

That voice.. it sounded all too familiar.. The flashlight conveniently flickered back on, its bright light finally revealing the 'figure' shrouded in darkness.

"Snow.."

"You idiot!"

Lightning quickly went to help the blonde-haired giant up from the ground. Oh, that punch sure was going to leave a mark on his cheek, that was a guarantee.

"Ow..," he groaned in pain.

"What the hell were you thinking sneaking up on us like that?," Lightning scolded.

"I just so happened to want to pee as well, and then I spotted you two. So I thought it'd be funny.."

She sighed. "You're lucky I didn't beat the shit out of you.."

Hope sighed in relief, mostly because it wasn't a wild animal after all - just his dumbheaded brother-in-law - but also because it wasn't a ghost..

The three of them returned to their tents. They'd do all the explaining to the rest of the gang once the Sun came up in the morning. But for now, Lightning plopped back down onto her sleeping bag, letting her sleep take her off into dreamland.

"Hey, Light.."

_'Ugh.. what now?'_ she groaned to herself.

"I just wanna say thank you.. for following me just now." His voice was sincere, no hint of sarcasm or humour apparent.

She flipped her body to face him, his emerald eyes holding that sincere look that she'd expected from him.

"It's just as you said Hope. You just keep your eyes front.."

"And you'll watch the rear.."

Perhaps even in stupid situations like these, she'd always have his back, and he'd always have hers.


End file.
